Havelock United Methodist Church

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2008 Discipleship Plan

Description of The Community That The Congregation Serves

The Havelock Church serves a community that consists of older single-family homes. Also in the community are several assisted living facilities and halfway houses for the mentally ill and addicted. The community has an extremely low Non-Anglo population. 30% of the community is Survivors (ages 26-46) followed by Millenials (26%, ages 6-25) and Boomers (22%, ages 47-64). Middle American families comprise 66% of the community, families being mixed between two-parent families and single- parent families.

The Havelock Church is underrepresented in many of these categories, having a very large percentage of members over the age of 65.

Congregation's Mission or Vision Statement

The Vision Committee has undergone a structured process to develop a vision statement and will use this as the basis for further development of the Discipleship Plan. Below is the new vision statement for Havelock United Methodist Church: "Our mission is to provide a spiritual community of loving friends, growing together in God's truth and reaching out to those in need."

Review of Ministries/State of The Church

The ministries of the Havelock United Methodist Church have been active during the past year with most activity seen in the Outreach and Nurture Committees. An example of the activity of these two committees is seen in the October 28th Halloween Party, which involved publicizing the event widely in the community. The results were seen in over 200 people attending the event from the surrounding community.

Worship attendance has been fairly flat as revealed in the membership report and membership has declined slightly. The significant portion of the congregation is above 65 years in age and 13 funerals were conducted at the church this past year.

Several younger couples and families have become regular in attendance during this past year and the nominations for 2008 reflect some new leadership in the church.

The Vision Committee ordered a "First Look Precept Study" this year and is following up with recommendations to the Administrative Council on how to increase church attendance and ministry involvement.

The financial health of the congregation is significantly improved. A financial campaign for 2007 resulted in pledges of $80,000 for operations and $8,000 for apportionments. At the end of October we had received $75,000 for operations and $9,800 for apportionments. While it is unlikely that the church will pay 100% of the apportionment obligation, the church continues to make progress toward this goal over past years.

Following are reports from various committees of the church:

Accountability Covenant: Staff Pastor Parish Relations Committee and The Pastor

Staff Pastor Parish Relations Committee will covenant with the pastor to enhance ministry at Havelock United Methodist Church by achieving the following:

  1. Creating heartwarming worship by:
    1. Culturally relevant worship benchmarked by:
      1. Sermon series that address felt needs of the community
      2. Enhanced use of multi-media resources in worship (see specific goals below).
    2. Theologically sound as evaluated by SPPRC.
      1. The SPPRC will provide for the Pastor's continuing education as reflected in the 2008 operations budget and Pastoral Compensation
    3. Life transforming benchmarked by:
      1. Growth in church leadership by involving new people in leadership
      2. Increased worship attendance
      3. Increased giving/stewardship in terms of financial resources and time.
      4. Increased opportunities for small groups and spiritual formation
  2. Creating and nurturing a radical and dynamic vision of the future benchmarked by:
    1. Specific Goals of the Vision Committee as presented in the specific plans for 2008 below.
    2. Specific goals for 2008 for use of current unused space (mentioned below).
  3. Leading the Church in risk taking mission benchmarked by:
    1. Implementation of an Adult Mission Trip in 2008
    2. Implementation of a Youth Mission Trip in 2008.
    3. Working with the Outreach and Nurture Committees in providing community programs that address the felt needs of the surrounding community.

Congregation's Priorities

  1. Increase worship attendance by enhancing heartwarming worship.
  2. Increase attendance in children's Sunday School and youth programs.
  3. Support the financial needs of the ministry of the church by fully funding the operations budget and apportionment obligation.
  4. Develop plans to use unused space at the church to meet both the felt needs of the community and the needs of the church.
  5. Provide for spiritual growth of the congregation through systematic faith development through study of scripture and spiritual formation.

Specific Plans For 2008

  1. Provide recreational activities for families in the community thereby introducing them to the Havelock Church:
    1. Plan and implement a 4th of July family activity for July 4, 2008 (Nurture Committee).
    2. Plan and implement a Halloween Party for families in the community for the Sunday before Halloween in 2008.
      1. Involve youth in creating a haunted house.
      2. Involve Nurture and Outreach Committees.
      3. Send flyers home with children at school.
  2. Plan and implement at least one other community family event for 2008.
    1. Nurture and Outreach Committees
  3. Increase attendance in Children's Sunday School by 10%
    1. Direct mailings to families
    2. Flyers handed out at community family events
    3. Implementation by Christian Education Committee
  4. Provide additional support for recovery and 12 Step Community
    1. Provide space for additional 12 step meetings
    2. Offer programs/ministry at the church to support persons in recovery
      1. Sermon series
      2. Classes/Bible Studies
    3. Responsibility: Outreach committee and Pastor
  5. Goal: Pay 100% of apportionment obligation in 2008 (Finance Committee)
  6. Goals of Vision Committee:
    1. Develop a vision statement to be approved by the Administrative Council by April 2008.
    2. Complete further studies of the surrounding community and make recommendations to the Administrative Council for outreach ministries.
  7. Goals for Worship:
    1. Enhance music and video capabilities during worship by:
      1. Purchasing a projector, computer and permanent screen for the sanctuary (Pastor, Worship, Memorial and Witness Committees).
      2. Maintain a praise choir to lead a "Praise Service" during worship (Worship Committee).
  8. Small group and Christian Education Goals:
    1. Develop Sermon Series and small discussion groups on topics relating to the felt needs of the community as well as the church as identified in Precept and other studies (Pastor, Christian Education, Worship, and Vision Committees).
  9. Develop plans for use of current unused space at the church (Pastor, Board of Trustees, Outreach Committee and Administrative Council).
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 Chair: SPPRC						Chair: Administrative Council

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 Pastor